Design Manager Senior

How to Apply

A cover letter and resume are important submissions for the hiring team to get a sense of your experience. In the cover letter, in two pages or less, please let us know how this role aligns with your career aspirations and skill set. Submit both a cover letter and resume as one file (because of system limitations). 

What You'll Do

The Center for Academic Innovation at the University of Michigan is seeking an experienced project manager who uses risk management techniques to create agreement and communicate clear decisions among partners, including CAI colleagues and U-M faculty members. You will manage the end-to-end design process of the development of online courses, short form content, and many academic innovation projects. The Design Manager Senior will report to the Design Management Lead. 

Who We Are

Through curricular innovation, tools for student success and equity, and educational research and analytics, the University of Michigan Center for Academic Innovation is building the future of
education. Our vision is a future in which education connects and empowers learners everywhere to reach their full potential throughout their lives. To realize our vision, we make it our mission to collaborate across campus and around the world to create equitable, lifelong educational opportunities for learners everywhere.

About the Online Learning Team at CAI

The Online Learning teams within CAI include five teams that collaborate with others across the Center and University to design and develop online learning experiences that support the future of education for a global community. We work with faculty and academic unit leaders to envision how they can expand reach and impact, advance innovative teaching, and support greater access and lifelong learning through the design and development of integrated online learning experiences. Our teams focus on the following areas:

• Strategic sourcing of new opportunities for online learning;
• Developing internal and external partnerships that promote engagement with learning experiences;
• Providing program management services throughout degree program development and operations;
• Supporting end-to-end design and development of learning experiences, including design management, learning experience design, and iteration of learning experiences after they have launched;
• Supporting learners' success and engagement in live courses and programs.

For more information, please visit our website: Academic Innovation.

Responsibilities*

Project Management

• Apply project management skills such as partner communication, process management, risk mitigation, and quality assurance in collaboration with faculty, project teams, administrators, vendors, and other partners.
• Manage complex project tasks including project scoping, scheduling, communication plans, budget management, and resource allocation to ensure execution and consistency of deliverables across CAI's short form content portfolio.
• Align diverse perspectives and relationships, including those of faculty partners, external partners and collaborators, and CAI colleagues at a project level.
• Ensure projects are in alignment with current copyright, accessibility, and diversity, equity, and inclusion standards.
• Coordinate policy documentation for CAI initiatives in collaboration with the Design Management Lead, including completing Memorandums of Understanding, amendments, and release and waiver forms.
• Manage financial project components, including expense reimbursements and budget management.

Planning and Implementation

• Develop a communication schedule to report out to CAI Leadership on the short form content portfolio status, both overall and at the individual initiative level.
• Manage project tasks and oversee the timely execution and consistency of deliverables across short form content, including Teach-Outs, Collections, and Instructional Clips.
• Organize, schedule, and lead a wide range of meetings, brainstorms, and events for individual initiatives.
• Work with the Director of Content and Platform Strategy, Design Management Lead, and others to contribute to strategic planning for short form content, including Teach-Outs, Collections, and Instructional Clips.
• Develop guidelines for evaluating the effectiveness of the Teach-Out model, Collections, Instructional Clips, and other forms of learning experiences and create recommendations to improve the process.
• Work closely across internal CAI teams to refine and develop processes and best practices in developing short form content, including Teach-Outs, Collections, and Instructional Clips.
• Develop training materials for Teach-Outs, Collections, and Instructional Clips.
• Work with a range of CAI teams to contribute to developing a platform-specific strategy for emerging channels, such as YouTube or Michigan Online, specifically around evolving our approaches to developing and launching a range of short form projects via these mediums.
• Contribute to operationalizing the above platform-specific strategy and help develop associated internal design processes and workflows for these types of projects.

Modes of Work

The mode of work for this position is Hybrid. The work requirements for this position allow both onsite and offsite work and you will have an expected regular and recurring onsite presence. On occasion, you may be required and must be available to work onsite more frequently if necessitated by our center's policy and domain leadership or by your job requirements.

Additional Information

Salary Information

The general salary range for this position is $75,000 - $78,000. Candidates can expect to be paid a competitive and equitable salary. Factors used to determine salary include education level, experience, knowledge and skills for the position and internal equity within the unit. All candidates are encouraged to discuss salary questions to honor alignment and transparency throughout the recruiting process.

Please Note: This is a 5 year term limited position with the possibility of renewal depending on funding.

Must have legal authorization to work in the United States.

The salary for this position will be based upon the selected candidate's education and experience.

Excellent benefits are available, for details, see http://benefits.umich.edu/ 

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 

The Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) is committed to inclusion in our organizational work, culture, climate, and the products we create. We strive to recruit, develop, and retain a diverse team as a reflection of our commitment to our work designing equitable and inclusive learning and work environments that are necessary for the university community to make progress on solving societal challenges. CAI draws on each of our team member's unique backgrounds and experiences to guide our everyday work in the center, and our team collaborates with students, staff, and faculty on projects that center our commitment to DEI work. All interested applicants, including those from groups historically marginalized by educational privilege, are encouraged to apply.

Organizational Statement on Harassment

We believe all individuals deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and have the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes mutual respect and a safe space for collaboration. Any concerns shared with Individuals with Reporting Obligations in the Center for Academic Innovation will be reported to the Equity, Civil Rights, & Title IX Office to be reviewed and addressed, and the Center for Academic Innovation encourages reporting of any forms of harassment including sexual and gender-based harassment

Background Screening

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks. Background checks will be performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled anytime after the minimum posting period has ended.

Decision Making Process

Applications will be reviewed as received throughout the posting period and continue until the position is filled.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor's degree and four or more years of project management experience in a professional setting.
• Familiarity with project management tools such as Asana.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace, specifically, Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
• Familiarity with online learning courses and programs, open educational resources, and learning management systems such as Coursera, edX, and Canvas.
• Ability to manage relationships with multiple partners with a collaborative and customer-focused mindset.
• Commitment to service and teamwork in a multicultural setting.